SI.com writers see Sounders as champs

Two of four writers at the SI.com soccer site say the Seattle Sounders FC will win this season's MLS Cup. (All four pick the Sounders to make the playoffs.)

Grant Wahl: Seattle. The Sounders were a remarkable story in 2009, reaching the playoffs as an expansion team, winning the U.S. Open Cup and averaging a league-record home attendance of 30,897. Look for Seattle to go all the way in 2010, using a mix of cagey veterans (Freddie Ljungberg, Kasey Keller), rising stars (Fredy Montero, Steve Zakuani), smart-buy contributors (Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans) and a championship coach (Sigi Schmid). Last year, the European-style atmosphere at Qwest Field was unmatched in MLS. This year it could go off the charts.

(Wahl also picked Fredy Montero for league MVP.)

Jen Chang: Seattle. The Sounders play an open, attacking game and try to pass it through the middle, one of the few teams in MLS to do so. Last year, their Achilles heel was the lack of clinical finisher to support Montero, but the addition of Blaise Nkufo gives the team a lethal pairing.

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